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# hamstring

noun (a hamstring, hamstrings); verb (hamstring, hamstrings, hamstrung, hamstringing)

«hamstring» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. One of the strong tendons or muscles at the back of the thigh, above the knee. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hamstring/#m1)
2. (verb) To stop someone or something from working well: the team was hamstrung by injuries. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hamstring/#m2)
3. (verb, old) To cut an animal's hamstring so it cannot run. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hamstring/#m3)

### In the lessons

In PE and sports lessons the hamstrings are stretched in warm-ups; a «hamstring injury» or «pulled hamstring» is common in football, rugby and running. In news it describes plans that are held back by lack of money or rules. Phrases: pull a hamstring, hamstring stretch, hamstrung by.

### Examples

- Stretch your hamstrings before you run. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hamstring/#x1)
- The striker pulled a hamstring and was off for a month. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hamstring/#x2)
- Touch your toes to feel your hamstrings stretch. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hamstring/#x3)
- The project was hamstrung by a lack of money. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hamstring/#x4)
- Hamstring injuries are common in sprinters. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hamstring/#x5)
- The physio taped up her sore hamstring. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hamstring/#x6)

### Note

Past tense: hamstrung (also hamstringed, rarer). One word: ham + string. «Ham» is an old word for the back of the knee. In science, the hamstrings bend the knee, the opposite of the quadriceps.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «hamstring» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hamstring/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«hamstring» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/hamstring.html) on Mova free.